Method of and apparatus for mending hosiery



Oct. 9, 1951 M. M. BROWN 2,570,637

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MENDING HOSIERY Filed Oct. 14, 1949 2 Sheets-Shea; l

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Oct. 9, 1951 M. M. BROWN 2,570,637

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MENDING HOSIERY Filed Oct. 14, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheei 2 ME IH f:

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2 z z l a a, a d 44 7 If] z a F a F a a k F 6 a 5 6 a a 6' INVENTOR.

A Trails/s Patented Dot. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE wis'rnon or AND APPARATUS ron MENDING no smnv tion of Kentucky Application October 14, 1949, Serial No. 121,393

10 Claims.

This invention relates to methods of and apparatus for restoring to original condition a knitted fabric one loop of which has become enlarged or has been pulled. accidentally in the handling of the fabric after the knitting operation has been completed.

In the manufacture of light weight knitted fabrics, particularly in the manufacture of sheer fabrics utilized in the manufacture of stockings, as for instance those well known fabrics generally known as 45 gauge 30 denier, 51 gauge 30 denier, or 51 gauge 153 denier, a relatively light or fine strand of thread or yarn is employed, for instance a strand of nylon, silk or rayon, or of mixtures of these, with or without other materials. The strands or threads of yarn so employed have great tensile strength and may not be easily broken but, after having been incorporated in a knitted fabric such as a stocking, the pulling of a thread may very easily occur for any one of a number of reasons, even while being handled in the most careful manner by a skilled operator. A a result of such a pulling operation a loop of the knitted fabric may be greatly enlarged without being broken, the material added to one loop by the pulling being withdrawn from the adjacent loops on both sides of the pulled loop, these adjacent loops being thereby reduced. As a result of the reduction of the adjacent loops, which extend in v a rectilinear series with the pulled or enlarged loop at an intermediate point, two additional series of normal loops, disposed parallel t and upon opposite sides of the elongated series of reduced loops, are drawn laterally into closer relationship.

Because of the fact that one loop has been drawn out of the plane of the fabric and has thereby been rendered conspicuous, and further because of the drawing together into abnormally close relationship of the two parallel series of loops previously spaced apart, it becomes obvious at a glance, to one inspecting the fabric, that it is defective. The salability of such an article is sharply impaired. In many knitting mills the output of salable sheer fabrics is substantially reduced and the cost of production of marketed. fabrics greatly increased, by this accidental pulling of threads, despite the exercise of all reasonable precautions. It is possible to" reclaim and render marketable the greater proportion of the knitted goods which, have one or more pulled threads and which would otherwise necessarily be rejected and wholly lost, by restoring the fabric to its original condition, the restoration being accomplished manually by acting upon each of the loops of fabric adjacent the pulled loop in such manner as to enlarge the reduced loops at the expense of the pulled loop, withdrawing material from the pulled 100p and causing it to be included in the reduced loops so that eventually all of the loops, including the formerly enlarged loop and the formerly reduced loops, are all of normal and equal size.

The present invention relates to an improved method and to an improved apparatus for thus restoring to original condition an area of a knitted fabric which has been rendered unsightly and defective by the pulling of a loop and whereby the operation of restoration may be accomplished more accurately and more rapidly than heretofore, a very substantial proportion of the cost of restoring knitted fabrics being eliminated.

Essentially the apparatusis designed and constructed in such manner as to enable one engaged in a restoration operation to rapidly deliver a series of light blows against the opposite, shortened reaches of each of the reduced loops, each:

blow slightly deflecting or displacing laterally the thread reach which is struck, such deflection causing some material to be withdrawn from an adjacent loop and added to the reduced loop thus contacted. That area of the fabric which includes the pulled and reduced loops is maintained under light tension during the operation of restoration, it being necessary to maintain this portion of the fabric in a stretched, plane condition in order to successfully perform the process. By striking, in succession, each reach of each of the reduced loops disposed upon one side of the pulled loop a number of times while the fabric is under tension, and repeating the operation as many times as may be necessary, material is withdrawn from the pulled loop and is added to all of the reduced loops located on that side, to the end that, in a relatively short time, all of such reduced loops have been restored to their original sizes and the size of the pulled loop greatly reduced. The operation is then repeated upon the opposite side of the pulled loop, the remaining excess material of the pulled loop being caused to creep or move into the reduced loops on that side, each of the deflecting blows having been directed away from the pulled loop.

In order to strike each reach of a reduced loop several deflecting blows in rapid succession and to progressively act in this manner upon successive loops a special instrument is provided, this instrument comprising a circular series of work engaging or impact elements and means mounting said members in such manner that they may be revolved bodily about an axis, the outer ends of the elements being disposed in a common plane and in a circle. Power means is provided for rotating the mounting so as to move the elements which it carries at a desired speed. The outer end surfaces of the "impact elements are sloped rearwardly, having in mind the direction in which they are moved, so that no such element may catch or snag a thread and thus further injure. rather than restore, the fabric being acted upon.

The details of construction of the implement comprising the impact or work engaging elements and the rotatable support or mounting therefor may be varied substantially without departure from the invention but I prefer a design in which the impact elements are of metal and comprise relatively thin and somewhat springy or resilient arms which extend outwardly from the mounting and the smooth work engaging ends of which are located in a circle concentric with the axis of the mounting and in a common plane. With an instrument such as described an experienced operator may bring the rapidly moving work engaging surfaces of the impact elements very accurately into contact with the fabric at a selected point and, by advancing it while maintaining the circle of work engaging ends of the work engaging members in a plane, can accurately cause the instrument to deliver light repeated deflecting blows to successive threads disposed in a straight line along the fabric. In other Words, a displaced looped thread may be struck repeated light blows at a number of points disposed in a straight lin by drawing the instrument across the surface of the knitted fabric, and a single thread thus acted upon and caused to creep, as it were, through the fabric, withdrawing a desired length of material from the pulled loop and adding it in accurate proportions to several reduced loops.

The work engaging members of the apparatus may be fabricated of any suitable material, steel being preferred, but these elements may be formed of plastic material, animal bristles, fiber, or, in fact, any material which can be fashioned into elongated, relatively thin, smooth and pref- In the accompanying drawings there is illus- 5 trated one embodiment of the apparatus which has been successfully employed in carrying out th process and a number of figures of diagrammatic character are provided in order to show how the device is employed in the elimination of a loop pulled from the body of a knitted fabric.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of the implement as it will appear when held in one hand of the operator while being used, the operators other hand encircling a mending cup over which the fabric t be repaired has been stretched;

Figure 2 is an axial section through the implement;

Figure 3 shows, on a relatively large scale, a small area of a knitted fabric, such for instance as a portion of a sheer stocking, a pulled loop being shown, likewise a number of reduced loops, these loops being shaded, the fabric shown being thus defective and needing restoration with the aid of the implement shown in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a section on line 44 of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 3, showing the same area of fabric, the fabric, however, having been placed under tension on the menders cup, or in some other manner, the defective portion having been modified somewhat because of the applied tension;

Figure 6 shows the same area of fabric after the restoration operation has been partially completed; and

Figure '7 shows this fabric after the restoration operation has been fully completed.

An enlarged plan view of a small section of knitted fabric is shown in Figure 7. This fabric is in its original, as knitted, condition, having been restored to perfect condition after having been damaged by the pulling of a thread, by the applicants method and with the aid of his implement. As previously stated, the yarn employed in the original fabrication of the fabric may be of any suitable composition and the denier and gauge may vary widely, the improved method and instrument being applicable to all weights and grades of knitted fabrics. It may be said that the fabric shown in Figure 7 comprises three course or rows of loops, an upper row the individual loops of which are indicated at a, a through a an intermediate series of loops indicated by b, b" through if and a lower series of loops indicated by c, 0, through c. The same piece of fabric is shown in Figure 3, a central loop of the Z) series, however, having been greatly enlarged by a pulling operation, this loop being indicated at b and the loops 1), W, b and I) being shown to be greatly reduced, material having been pulled or withdrawn from these loops and incorporated in the enlarged loop o In order to restore the fabric to its original condition, as shown in Figure '7, that area which includes the enlarged and reduced loops which have resulted from the pulling out of a loop, is first placed over the open mouth of a mendingcup in the manner indicated in Figure 1 and the operator applies one hand in such manner that this relatively small area of the fabric is placed under light tension in all directions. As a result of this tensioning a small hole h will appear immediately adjacent the base of the pulled loop b To one side of the small hole h (to the left, Figure 5), the reduced loops b b and b are shown to have been somewhat enlarged and to the other side of the hole 71. and the pulled loop b the loops 12 b and b have been contracted or reduced. In other words, the pulled loop is now approximately at the midpoint of a rectilinear series of loops which are of reduced size and very similar in appearance. In order to withdraw the excessive thread length contained in the enlarged loop 17 and cause this material to distribute itself through the several reduced loops the implement illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 is used.

This instrument comprises essentially a core or mounting it! having extending outwardly therefrom a plurality of work engaging elements H, the core being mounted upon the end of a shaft or spindle l2 and the outermost or work engaging tips of the elements H being disposed along the arc of a,,circle centered on the axis of the spindle E2. The material of which the mounting it is fabricated may be varied widely, likewise the material of which the elements I! are formed, the manner of attachment of these elements H to the hub l8, and even the overall shapes of the elements ll can be varied within gamma? llimits.. -In every instance, however, the outer .inclined rearwardly, having in mind the direction of rotation of the implement when it is in use. Thus in Figure l the implement .is to berotatedzin the direction of the arrow w and each of the elements H is curved rearwardly for reasons which will become more apparent when its use is more particularly described.

With the fabric under tension, as shown in :Figures 1 and 5, the operator will first position the implement in such manner thatthe tips of elements H will, when the hub is rotated, successively contact the .collapsed loop b striking loop 12?, for instance, upon its opposite reaches .20 and 2E, reach 20 beingdeflected from the position in which it is shown in full lines in Figure .5 to the position in whichit'is shownin dotted lines in that figure, this portion .of loop b ibeing lengthened, thematcrial added to its length being withdrawn from the elongated or pulled Iloop Z). The operator, after having broughtthetips of a numberof the elements E l of the rotating implement successively into contact with the reaches 20 and :21 of the reduced loop 73 will draw the implement toward himself or herself while maintaining the tips of elements i l in theJSa-me'plane so that the Work engaging end surfaces of elements M will 'next engage reach 2! of loop b deflecting and lengthening this portion of loop 22 Thereafter the implement will be further moved horizontally and .in the :same plane so that the end surfacesof elements H successively e g e and impose repeated'blows upon loops b and b at'points 22, 23, 2d and :25 respectively.

.The effect 'of each series of impacts of the work engaging elements upon the reduced loops is *to move "those portions of the loops thus engaged away from the pulled loop 11 and to thus increase the reduced loops in size while withdrawing material from the pulled loop. If a single movement of the implement outwardly from the hole lh across all of the reduced loops does not have the effect of completely restoring the reduced loops to normal size upon that side of the hole the operation will be repeated and, by reason of the nature of the implement, the work engaging tips of elements 1 I together defining a plane, the operator may precisely repeat the initial operation, the successive .reaches of the reduced loops previously engaged by the implement being again engaged and similar forces app'liedthereto and to the fabric.

The operation has the general aspect of a brushing operation, the forwardly facing surfaces of the elements I striking and sliding over each contacted section of thread, thus tending to enlarge the reduced loops and restore them to -nor-. mal size, increase in size of the several reduced loops being at the expense of the enlarged loop 17*, which gradually loses size. When the series of, reduced loops have been fully restored upon one side of the central hole and pulled loop 12 as shown in Figure 6 of the drawings, the operator will either turn the mending cup 180 to reverse the fabric, or will reverse the implement, it being easier and simpler to reverse the fabric. After this has been done the implement may be used exactly as previously described to enlarge the remaining aligned loops which have previously been reduced, being moved, oneach working stroke, away :from the .hole :h and (generally) toward the operator, When such :enlargement has been .fully effected the pulled loop :2) will have been reduced to :normal size so that :the

fabric will then appear as it is illustrated in Figure 7, the fabricnot indicating in fanysmanner the fact that ithas been restored after-injury.

.Theimplement, in the-hands of askilled 'op'erator, :may be used with great facility 'andiiin a 'few seconds time :all trace Of a pulled zloopzmay be removed and the fabric restored to its original condition. .As has been previously explained, the recise details of construction 'of the implement may be .varied to "suit the materials upon which itis topperate. .Aninstrument found to beentirely satisfactory :in operation comprises a hub of1metal and a plurality of thin steel elements H shaped as shownin Figure 1 :of the drawings, :the elements being ..018 inch 'indiameter. In this particular :instrumentithe-elements 1i i extend outwardly from the peripheryaof the hub'membe'r H] for'aadistance ofone-half inch and the diameter-of the hub is :five-eighths o'f an inch. The instrument is revolved by mechanical power taken from a geared down electric motor, the motion of the rotor of the motor being communicated to the spindle L2 by means of a flexible shaft enclosed within the flexible tube indicated at T in the drawings, the :source'of :power being indicated at The motor and its gearing are preferably so designed that the "implement is revalved 'at an angular speed of approximately -'400 revolutions per minute, but higher .or lo'wer'spe'ed's of rotation are permissible.

:Each of the elements ll of the implement is self sustaining in character in' that it supports itself and'generall-y maintains its 'shape'when at rest or in motion. The circular path along which the work engaging faces of the implement move when theimp'lement is m use "is therefore a definite one, permitting the "accurate positioning of the implement relatively to the work.

The width of the work engaging "face of each element should be no greater than the width of a normal course of the fabric upon which the implement is being used in a normal manner, otherwise the undamaged loops of courses of "the fabric adjacent the damaged course being corrected may be disturbed and "the desired result not realized. The work engaging face of anelement ..-0'l-8 inch .in diameter naturally cannot exceed this dimension :in width and actually will be substantially .less when the fabric is under tension and the instrument pressed lightly against it. When the loop diameter of the damaged course of the fabric being repaired is quite small it may be desirable to reduce the effective widths of the work engaging faces of the implement and 'to thus avoid the possible disturbance of the undistorted adjacentcourses of the knitted fabric. The selection of elements of the proper dimension "for the specific purpose at hand may be easily accomplished. It is well known that the diameters of the loops of knitted hosiery of conventional character vary between .0156 inch and .0312 inch, the most common loop diameters being .020 inch (15 denier) and .021 inch (30 denier), and for restoring pulled threads in knitted fabrics of this character the work engaging needle of "circular "cross section and having a d ameter *of .018 inch will perform in an em-i-' nently satisfactory manner. For very fine work the width of the work engaging face of the element may be still further narrowed by reducing the diameter of the work engaging element.

In certain instances it may be desirable to subject the area of fabric from which a loop has been pulled to a moist atmosphere, for instance to air containing steam or vapor, so as to lubricate the thread. Lubrication of the thread in this manner facilitates its movement under the action of the implement. Needless to say, the method and apparatus are applicable to both dyed and natural fabrics. In the event that an electric motor is not available hand or foot power may be communicated to the implement to rotate it, and in some instances it may be preferred to operate the instrument in this manner. The desired result may be obtained with the aid of instruments of the type described, in which the radiating elements H are longer or shorter than those shown and herein described, depending upon the nature of the work to be accomplished.

'In one embodiment of the implement, found to be eminently satisfactory in actual use, the elements H are curved uniformly, the radius of curvature being about one-half inch. If desired, the work engaging elements may be detachably secured to the hub of the implement, so that elements of difierent kinds may be employed with a common hub. The member ID may, for instance, be formed in two parts and the inner ends of elements ll clamped between these parts, thus making these elements readily interchangeable so that a damaged element may be quickly replaced or one set easily substituted for another when the implement is to be applied to diiferent types of fabrics.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for restoring to original condition a knitted fabric one loop of which has become enlarged and adjacent loops reduced, comprising, in combinationpa spindle adapted to be rotated about its longitudinal axis, a hub fixed upon the spindle and rotatable therewith, and a circular series of self sustaining work engaging elements mounted upon said hub, said elements being adapted to successively engage the work when the hub is rotated, the work engaging surfaces of said elements at the outer ends thereof facing forwardly and outwardly and being smooth and no wider than a normal course of the fabric to be restored.

2. Apparatus for restoring to original condition a knitted fabric one loop of which has become enlarged and adjacent loops reduced, comprising, in combination, a circular series of self sustaining work engaging elements, and means mounting said elements for movement about an axis with the leading surfaces of the outer end portions of said elements disposed in a circular series to successively contact and deflect a thread of a knitted fabric, said leading surfaces being no wider than a normal course of the fabric to be restored and being sloped so as not to catch any thread.

3. A brush-like implement for restoring pulled threads in knitted fabrics comprising a circular series of resilient bristle-like elements, means mounting said elements about a common axis with the outer ends thereof disposed in a circle centered on said axis, and second means for rotating said first mentioned means in one direction of rotation, the outer end portion of each such element being sloped rearwardly so as not to catch any thread which it may engage and being of no greater width than the width of a normal course of the knitted fabric to be acted upon. a

4. Apparatus for restoring pulled threads in knitted fabric comprising a circular series of angularly spaced elements having terminal work engaging surfaces of less width than the distance between two normal courses of the fabric to be restored and similarly sloped with respect to radii passing therethrough, respectively, and means supporting said elements for rotation in a plane and about the axis of said circular series.

5. Apparatus for restoring pulled threads in knitted fabric comprising a hub adapted to be rotated about a fixed axis and a series of radiating elongated resilient work engaging elements supported on said hub and having smooth forwardly facing rearwardly and outwardly sloping work engaging faces disposed in a common plane and at the same distance from said axis, each such face being of less width than 2. normal course of the fabric to be restored.

6. A device for use in the textile industry in restoring to normal condition an area of a knitted fabric a course of which has been rendered defective by the pulling and enlargement of a loop and the reduction of loopsladjacent to said enlarged loop, said device comprising a plurality of work engaging elements each having a smooth elongated, arcuate work engaging surface, said work engaging surfaces being spaced apart, arranged in a circular series about a common center, and disposed substantially in a plane, the effective width of each such surface not exceeding the width of a normal course of the fabric to which the apparatus is to be applied, and means mounting said elements for rotation about an axis passing through the common center about which said surfaces are arranged and normal to the plane in which they are substantially disposed whereby, when said means is rotated, said work engaging surfaces may be caused to successively engage the work.

'7. A device for use in the textile industry in restoring to normal condition an area of a knitted fabric a course of which has been rendered defective by the pulling and enlargement of a loop and the reduction of loops adjacent to said enlarged loop, said device comprising a plurality of work engaging elements each having a smooth elongated work engaging surface, said work engaging surfaces being spaced apart, arranged in a circular series about a common center and disposed substantially in a plane, the effective width of each such surface not exceeding the width of a normal course of the fabric to which the apparatus is to be applied and each such surface being sloped so as to engage and deflect without catching any thread disposed in its path of movement, and means mounting said elements for rotation about an axis passing through the common center about which said surfaces are arranged and normal to the plane in which they are substantially disposed whereby, when said means is rotated, said work engaging surfaces may be caused to successively engage the work.

8. A device for use in the textile industry in restoring to normal condition an area of a knitted fabric a course of which has been rendered defective by the pulling and enlargement of a loop and the reduction of loops adjacent to said enlarged loop, said device comprising a plurality of elongated, resilient, self-sustaining wire-like work engaging elements each having a smooth work engaging surface, said work engaging surfaces being spaced apart, arranged in elongated in the plane in which said surfaces are substantially disposed and curved to present to the work a surface which is transversely and longitudinally convex so as to engage and deflect without catching any thread disposed in its path of movement, and means mounting said elements for rotation about an axis passing through the common center about which said surfaces are arranged and normal to the plane in which they are substantially disposed whereby, when said means is rotated, said work engaging surfaces may be caused to successively engage the work.

9. Apparatus for restoring to original condition a knitted fabric one loop of which has become enlarged and adjacent loops reduced, comprising, in combination, a spindle adapted to be rotated about its longitudinal axis, a hub fixed upon the spindle and rotatable therewith,

and a circular series of resilient, self-sustaining metallic wire-like work engaging elements mounted upon and radiating from said hub, the work engaging surfaces of said elements at the outer ends thereof facing forwardly and outwardly and being smooth and no wider than a normal course of the fabric to be restored.

10. The method of restoring to original condition a distorted course of a knitted fabric one loop of which has become enlarged by the incorporation therein of material withdrawn from adjacent loops which have for this reason been reduced, comprising, placing an area of the fabric which includes the enlarged and reduced loops under light tension and, while maintaining the fabric under tension, withdrawing material from the enlarged loop and adding it to the reduced loops until all are restored substantially to normal size, by striking a distorted 10 loop located closely adjacent the enlarged loop a series of relatively light rapidly repeated blows applied in a direction longitudinally of the distorted course and away from the enlarged loop by impact members the effective widths of the work engaging surfaces of which do not exceed the width of a normal course of the fabric, thereafter similarly applying a series of similarly directed relatively light and rapidly repeated blows in succession to those remaining distorted loops of the course which are located upon the same side of the enlarged loop as the loop first engaged and thereby restoring to normal size all distorted loops of the course upon that side of the enlarged loop and reducing the enlarged loop, and thereafter similarly acting upon in succession the distorted loops of that portion of the distorted course which are disposed upon the opposite side of the enlarged loop.

MERLE M. BROWN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 916,122 Doyle Mar. 23, 1909 1,500,716 Popendick July 8, 1924 1,944,271 Riedling Jan. 23, 1934 2,493,876 Hutchison Jan. 10, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 596,405 France Oct. 23, 1925 605,657 France May 31, 1926 OTHER REFERENCES The Manufacture of Hosiery and Its Problems, E. M. Schenke, National Association of Hosiery Manufactures, New York, N. Y., 1935.

l I Disclaimer 2,570,637.2l[e1le M. Brown, Princeton, Ky. METHODS OF AND MENDING Hosmm'. Patent dated Oct. 9, 1951. 11, 1962, by the assignee, Marvel Specialty 00 Hereby enters this disclaimer to claim 10 of said p [Official Gazette October 30, 1.962.]

APPARATUS FOR Disclaimer filed Sept. mpany, Incorporated. atent. 

